Today: 'A 20th Century Founding Father'

Dec 06, 2018 | 5:00 AM

A final tribute to the 41st president of the United States brings Washington together for at least one moment.

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‘A 20th Century Founding Father'

For 2½ hours Wednesday, America’s five living presidents, hundreds of dignitaries and elected leaders were able to set aside their differences, if sometimes a bit awkwardly, and gathered in Washington’s National Cathedral to honor the late President George Herbert Walker Bush. The state funeral, which combined pomp with moments of deep-felt emotion and humor, featured eulogies focusing on Bush’s compassion and foreign policy prowess, including one from his son George W. Bush. “To us, his was the brightest of a thousand points of light,” the 43rd president said of his father. Today, the patriarch of one of America’s most successful political dynasties will be buried in his adopted home state of Texas.

The casket of George H.W. Bush is carried past the row of American presidents and first ladies past and current in the National Cathedral. (Matt McClain / Washington Post)

Something Rotten in the State of Tar Heels

A month after the midterm election, it’s still unclear who will represent North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District, and it might not be for quite some time. The reason: an investigation into allegations of election fraud – specifically, that a team led by a conservative operative illegally went door to door collecting mail-in absentee ballots from voters – and other irregularities.

Did the Caravan Idea Backfire?

The nonprofit group Pueblo Sin Fronteras, or People Without Borders, says it started organizing caravans headed to the U.S. to protect migrants from rape and kidnapping while drawing attention to their plight. But after one in spring caught Trump’s eye, some conservatives have accused it of human trafficking, while some on the left say it’s backfired. “They are helping Donald Trump say there is an invasion,” says one migrant activist.

A Future Reshaped by Fire

Two forces — one creative, one destructive — are reshaping the income demographics of the San Francisco Bay Area. Data released by the U.S. Census Bureau found that while Silicon Valley enjoys some of the nation’s highest incomes thanks to the tech industry, parts of wine country that were devastated by wildfire now have some of the lowest poverty rates in the U.S. Some experts say the loss of homes in the 2015 Napa wildfire forced the poorest to leave the area entirely, rather than try to rebuild. It’s a scenario we could see repeated across the state, as California contends with ever more destructive wildfires.

More Than a Drop in the Bucket

For some L.A. city firefighters and police officers who hit retirement age at 50, it’s a no-brainer: collecting a paycheck and a pension, even if they’re sick or out on disability. For budget watchdogs, though, it’s something entirely different: A study has found the Deferred Retirement Option Plan, a.k.a. DROP, has not been “cost-neutral,” as was promised to voters when they approved it in 2001. That determination opens the door for elected leaders to end or negotiate changes to the program, but so far most city leaders, including Mayor Eric Garcetti, appear to be in no rush to do so.

-- Esa-Pekka Salonen, the former music director of the L.A. Philharmonic, will become the next music director of the San Francisco Symphony in 2020. He wants to recruit a “brain trust” of young talent and use tech to push musical boundaries.

-- Hollywood talent manager Marv Dauer is losing clients and defending his role in dealings with former CBS President Leslie Moonves after a New York Times report.

Why did the chicken cross the road? Perhaps to get away from Wilshire Boulevard and Vermont Avenue in Koreatown. At this intersection and its surroundings, you’ll find innumerable Korean fried chicken joints, the Peruvian chicken specialist Pollo a la Brasa, as well as Dino’s, Pollo Campero, Crawford’s and Gus’s. The latest addition: Pollo L.A., which serves whole marinated chicken roasted two hours on a rotisserie. What’s in the marinade? The owner admits to some citrus, but “my grandmother would probably kill me if I told you anything else.”